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Bellator 296: Mousasi vs. Edwards just wrapped up from the Accor Arena in Paris, France with the main event seeing Fabian Edwards—brother of UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards—pick up the biggest win of his career with a unanimous decision over longtime MMA veteran, Gegard Mousasi.
A lot of this fight took place on the feet, with Edwards remaining elusive as Mousasi pressured. Edwards connected with several sweet counters, and then leaned into his grappling when it was necessary. This is one of the most complete performances that we’ve seen from Edwards, and it looks as though a title shot is now looming. Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen entered into the cage during Fabian’s post-fight interview to exchange words face-to-face to gas up their upcoming title fight in Dublin, Ireland.
Check out our description of Gegard Mousasi vs. Fabian Edwards
The fighters came out and began exchanging low kicks back and forth, before one of Mousasi’s went a little high and caught Edwards int he cup. After a brief break the fight resumed, and Edwards began scoring with clean solo strikes. He definitely seemed to have a speed advantage over the more seasoned Mousasi. Then, Gegard connected with a clean counter that caused Fabian to go into his shell where he wasn’t pulling the trigger.
The second stanza started a bit sticky, but Edwards shifted gears and blasted a takedown. He controlled for a bit, but Mousasi was able to sweep and get on top. In a frenzy, Gegard blasted a downed Fabian right int he face with an illegal knee. A timeout was called by the ref to allow Edwards to recover, and the restarted on its feet. Edwards went back to attacking the legs of Mousasi, and even staggered the vet with some crisp boxing.
The third round saw an early hook land right on the money for Mousasi, but Edwards accidentally poked him in the eye at the same time. Another timeout was called, and the fouls were running up a tally. The match got back underway and Mousasi pressured forward. Edwards was doing well with being elusive, while landing counters of his own. It didn’t seem like Gegard was getting hurt by the strikes of Fabian, but he was having horrible reactions to them.
The pressure remained there for Mousasi to begin the championship rounds, but he was still struggling to find his foe. Edwards was still making him miss, without putting himself too far away to fire back. Just before the midpoint of the round, Gegard snagged a takedown and began punishing Fabian with some ground and pound. Edwards worked hard to quickly get back to his feet, and earned himself a takedown just before the bell.
The final round is where Edwards out-played Mousasi to take the back. Gegard kept building his base in an attempt to stand up, but Edwards was making all the right adjustments to keep sinking his hooks. Mousasi never got back to his feet. Fabian Edwards def. Gegard Mousasi by unanimous decision (49-46 x3): Middleweight
Mousasi vs. Edwards highlights
Fight card results
Main card
- Fabian Edwards def. Gegard Mousasi by unanimous decision: Middleweight
- Brent Primus def. Mansour Barnaoui by unanimous decision: Lightweight
- Douglas Lima def. Costello van Steenis by unanimous decision: Middleweight
- Thibault Gouti def. Kane Mousah by KO at 3:58 of round 2: Lightweight
Prelims
- Denise Kielholtz def. Paula Cristina by unanimous decision: (W) Flyweight
- Luca Poclit def. Oliver Enkamp by unanimous decision: Welterweight
- Saul Rogers vs. Davy Gallon is a no contest: Lightweight
- Yves Landu def. Piotr Niedzielski by unanimous decision: Featherweight
- Sarvarjon Khamidov def. Kevin Petshi by submission (RNC) at 1:33 of round 3: 141-pounds
- Tim WIlde def. Chris Gonzalez by unanimous decision: Lightweight
- Fabacary Diatta def. Keir Harvie by unanimous decision: Featherweight
- Asaël Adjoudj def. Georges Sasu by unanimous decision: 150-pounds
- Romain Debienne def. Bourama Camara by KO at 1:04 of round 2: Welterweight
- Jose Augusto def. Simon Biyong by unanimous decision: Light Heavyweight
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